Monday, January 15, 2018

Arthritis and Me

I have had a sore knee for a long time.

When I was doing rehab after my brain injury they asked me to do exercises such as sit to stands and squats and I had a horrible time because of pain, not just neuro issues. That would be when we finally got an x-ray of my knee and I was diagnosed with osteoarthritis.

I have spent a long time walking with a bad gait and frankly it never did get quite normal. My knees and hip have taken a real beating. I tend to stand with all my weight on my "good right side".  I tend to twist a little on my hip as I walk and I kind of thud down on that right leg because I don't totally trust that my left leg will support me even though there is no good reason to think it won't now. I am a heavy person and have been since I was a child. My father had bad arthritis. The result of all these risk factors is that  I now have arthritis in both knees and my right hip as well as a bit in my lower back.

I have done a lot to keep the arthritis under control over the years but it just keeps getting worse.  I tried using a knee brace about 6 years ago and that was not all that helpful. I found it very uncomfortable and they are harder to fit properly on a heavier leg. I tended to be moving both legs kind of funny when I walked and it just was a bad treatment for me at the time.

I have been going to exercise classes and I find the water programs for people with arthritis to be especially helpful.

I do try and pace myself and sit and rest my leg when I need to be that isn't always easy. One of the issues that the arthritis help sites talk about is severe fatigue. I would say that is one of my issues continuing from the brain injury too. This makes it doubly harder for me to willingly exercise a lot or work on loosing weight - both of which would ultimately help with the same fatigue and the joint issues.

The past year or two my hip pain in particular has gotten really bad. I had a fall at work just over 2 years ago and it was like someone turned on a pain switch. My hip really didn't bother me much until that point.  I suddenly had a lot of inflammation and pulled muscles that eventually settled down with time and physiotherapy but the pain never totally went away. The arthritis in my hip has progressed rapidly over the past year and now the pain is constant and severe.

I have had cortisone injections in my knees and right hip over the past 18 months. The first hip one felt like a miracle but at about 7 months it wore off. The second one only lasted about 4 months and the last time it only took the edge off.

My family doctor, as well as the sports medicine specialist that I have been seeing, told me I needed to get on the waiting list for joint replacements. It is a long wait around here to see an orthopedic surgeon, never mind the long wait for the actual surgery.  I saw the surgeon last week and despite the fact that I am considered a higher surgical risk we are going ahead with the hip surgery.

My plan is to get myself in the best shape I possibly can before this surgery.  I am still focusing on  leading a healthy life.




4 comments:

Barb Polan said...

Hi Linda, I don't mean to bring up a bad topic, but after knee surgery, I healed "wrong," because I walked "wrong," and my knee is now in more pain and can do less than before the surgery. My PT's just did not know how to help someone in my circumstances what to do to prevent trouble. Please make sure your osteo and PT's monitor you carefully as you heal so that healing "wrong" doesn't happen to you. Let us know how the surgery goes.

Linda said...

Barb, I am glad you said something. I am really worried about that too. I am developing a really bad gait because of the arthritis now. One knee is really pretty much crumbled and is crunching, unstable and giving out on me. My hip has worn so badly there is remodelling in the joint and my bones are fusing together so I have very little ability to bend my hip.

I kind of got scolded by the arthritis Drs and nurse educator that I should be using my cane in my left hand to balance the right leg but my hand gives out if I use the cane with putting weight on it. They really didn't get it and that is pretty straightforward compared to gait. I know we have really good physio available to me but who has expertise in one side weak and the other side arthritis post surgical?

Right now I think I have to focus on getting my weight down and doing as much leg muscle strengthening as possible. I still have a few months.

Rebecca Dutton said...

I wish I had gone to PT BEFORE my knee surgery.

Linda said...

Rebecca I had some physiotherapy largely for the arthritis a year ago for 13 weeks. I can only have a couple of physiotherapy appointments at this time. I have exercises to do at home for now and I have been going and will continue to go to aquatic therapy for as long as I can. I am looking into what else I can do. Ill share more info as I go along.

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